


Past the Point of No Return

by CrowKing



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Masquerade, One Shot, Phantom of the Opera inspired, Romantic Fluff, fluffy one shot, gala - Freeform, halloween-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 05:22:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12336300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrowKing/pseuds/CrowKing
Summary: You are Tony Stark's party planner. After presenting this year's Masquerade-themed Halloween gala, you and Loki have some words. He disapproves and undermines your 'silly midgardian masquerade' and tells you he's not going. The night of everything is put together, and you meet a stranger that looks quite familiar to you.





	Past the Point of No Return

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!  
> Please enjoy this Halloween-themed one shot!! ;)

“And we’ll be inviting the usual guests plus anyone you request, of course, Mr. Stark,” you said, nodding your head to your boss, Tony Stark.

“Put the Queen of England on the list,” Tony joked. Pepper responded with an eye roll. “She’ll have a good ol’ time with us.”

“Ignore him,” Pepper replied. “This year’s Halloween Gala looks incredible, Y/N, thank you.” Pepper almost always praised your work as Tony’s personal party planner. You had worked on a couple of his parties with a company you loathed. Tony hired you on because he admired your attention to detail. 

“I agree. Great work,” he smiled at you. “Very different from anything we have ever done.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you spied two brothers walking in. Thor held a large traveler’s mug in his hand. He sipped at whatever was inside, and walked towards Tony. His brother, Loki, followed. Loki held a copy of Frankenstein in his hand. You silently nodded to yourself, admiring that Loki was reading Earth’s classic books.

“Stark! My brother and I have a quarrel we would like you to settle,” Thor grinned. 

“A quarrel What about?” Tony crossed his arms, hoping he could cause some more trouble. 

“It seems you know Banner best from all of us,” Thor began. “In his experiments, did he have any tests subjects or was he the test subject?”

“He tested on himself.”

“I told you,” Thor turned to his brother.

“That’s not what I was saying. You’re not listening,” Loki raised his eyebrow. “I was arguing that Banner is Frankenstein monster.”

“That’s wrong,” you said out of the blue. Loki narrowed his eyes at you.

“I’m sorry?” Loki tilted his head. Loki never thought much of anyone who worked for Tony, especially the women. You once overheard him complain ‘Tony only hires airheaded mistresses’ which made you so upset that you swore you cut off a taxi on the highway.

“Frankenstein is the doctor, not the monster. The Monster is only referred to as The Monster. Dr. Frankenstein is the Creator, so really if you wanted to compare Dr. Banner to anyone, it would be as the Creator.” Thor placed a hand over his mouth and waited for Loki’s reaction. Loki blinked slowly.  
“Last time I checked, Dr. Banner changes into a giant green monster. What would you compare that to?”

“Dr. Banner is a human being. Hulk is a separate entity.”

“They’re the same person,” Loki corrected.

“Yet somehow, you managed to kill more people than he ever did in a matter of days. Who’s the real monster?” you asked him. Loki chuckled darkly.

“Brother, the Incident is not something you should be proud of,” Thor put his hand in front of Loki’s chest before he could walk towards you. “I apologize, Miss?”

“Ms. (Y/N). Thank you, Thor,” you smiled politely at him. You scowled at Loki who still had his eyes on you.

“(Y/N) is my personal party planner. She singlehandedly may have come up with the best Halloween Gala we ever had,” Tony placed his hands on your shoulders. “Thor has been very excited to participate in more Midgard holidays.”

“Oh really?” you smiled at him. Loki rolled his eyes. “This year’s gala is themed as a masquerade.”

“A masquerade?” Thor turned to his brother. “Didn’t mother?” his voice trailed off. Loki nodded his head and became more irritated.

“Yes, yes she did. It was awful,” Loki responded. Thor held his hands up in front of you. 

“A long time ago, my mother held her very own masquerade. She was only trying to recreate what you Midgardians had in the past. It didn’t go over well.” He shrugged it off. 

“Well, whatever your mother did, I’m sure Y/N will do it better,” Tony complimented you.

“I’m sorry?” Loki stepped forward, fists clenched. Thor held him back.

“I’m sure Stark meant nothing malicious by that. We’ll be there,” Thor smiled apologetically.

“No, we won’t,” Loki pushed Thor out of the way. “I’m not going to your silly Midgardian party. You think you’re clever and different from the rest of them, but the truth is, you’re still human and you’ll still fall from grace one way or another.” Loki spat at you and stormed off.

“Don’t worry about him,” Thor said, walking after him. “He’s still adjusting to Earth.” You stood there, looking at Pepper and Tony, hoping for a more supportive response. Tony stood there with his arms crossed.

“Who shit in his goat helmet?” Tony remarked. “Listen Y/N, whatever you need to make this happen, you got it.” 

Weeks later, you were putting on the finishing touches to your masquerade. You begged and pleaded with Tony to have this party in an abandoned gothic church instead of the Avengers Tower, but after the third time when you told him you would be hiring actors to stalk a few choice guests as reapers and plague doctors, Tony agreed. Solely because he wanted someone to follow Steve all night long.

The gothic church was half the decorations. The second level of the church had a large organ. The organist gladly dressed up for the occasion; he played to warm up the organ and himself. Several tables with buffet-style food was laid out for all the guests. Servers dressed up in costumes as they prepared to serve drinks.

You checked off items on your list, still dressed in normal people’s clothing. You looked over to see your assistants putting the final touches on the photo display by the staircase. One touch to your shoulder made you jump.

“This is amazing, Y/N,” Natasha commended you. Her eyes went from the floor to the ceiling. She wore a pink ball gown with white lace accents. 

“Natasha?”

“Hm?” she responded. You eyed her up and down.

“This isn’t you,” you stated, gesturing to her outfit.

“It’s Halloween and a masquerade isn’t it?” she smiled. “Just because my name is Black Widow doesn’t mean I can’t wear things like this.” Natasha winked at you and placed her mask on. She among the first to enter the party. You looked around and saw your dress code directions worked. All around you people were dressed to the nines or dressed in a true Victorian fashion with colorful dresses and ribbons. Men wore top hats, and some men even wore outrageous masks. They laughed with their cocktails as they entered your party.

“Y/N!” a costumed male came up to you. He wore a purple suit with a simple mask of gold and green. He slipped off his mask to show you his face.

“Dr. Banner?”

“Bruce,” he corrected you. “I heard what you said a couple weeks ago about me to Loki. I wanted to say thank you. Great job with the party.”

You smiled. “Thank you, Bruce.”

“Why aren’t you in costume? You deserve to celebrate too,’ he made a good point. You nodded in agreement. You waved goodbye to him and headed into one of the side rooms in the church. With the help of two of your assistants, you got your dress on. 

You donned a silver ball gown with off-the-shoulder sleeves. The fabric flowed to the ground and then some. You slipped on dancing heels, and your assistant secured a silver crown on your head. You looked into the mirror and your heart skipped a beat. You truly looked like a princess. Quickly, you tied your mask on which had white jewels bedazzled onto it. 

You allowed yourself to make a silent grand entrance as if this was Paris in the early 20th century and no longer 21st century New York. Some people you could guess their identity right away. Steve wore a blue suit with a dark blue mask that someone else may have made for him. He looked behind him as a reaper silently followed him. Thor was also obvious. You heard him laughing as he spoke with Natasha. His red cape was wrapped around him like a sash, and his golden hair touched his shoulders.

Others were not so obvious. Next to Thor stood another man, you swore you’ve seen before. Hi suit was more of a baroque pattern with gold and white. Like you, he wore a golden crown on his head instead of a top hat. You couldn’t see his eyes, but he was laughing too. Until he saw you at the top of the stairs.

You watched his smile fade into a sense of awe. He stepped forward and away from Thor to get a closer look at you. You saw a sword at his side. He clutched onto it. His green eyes squinted at you. You assumed he was trying to guess who you were. You stepped down the grand stairway carefully. Your dress followed pursuit. The fabric cascaded down with you. Your heels clicked with little sound.

No one could hear you come down the stairs except for him. He walked towards you more, and you realized you’d meet at the bottom of the stairs. You watched him weave through the crowd on the floor. Your heart began to beat hard in your chest. You halfway hoped he didn’t know who you were. 

When you reached the bottom of the stairs, he was waiting for you. He offered you his hand, and you took it. The both of you stood in silence for a moment while you let the classical music swell over you. 

“You, my dear, are absolutely the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” he greeted you. His breath almost taken away. His green eyes shifted back and forth at your e/c ones. You looked at him closer. Green eyes. Black hair. Taller than an average man.

Loki.

You stepped back, taking your hand out of his. He had undermined your intelligence. He had insulted you. He didn’t care about you. Loki frowned. “I’m sorry, have I done something wrong?”

“You have,” you flatly told him. You started to walk away when you heard his voice again.

“Do we know each other?” You turned towards him. 

“We do.”

“And I have offended you?” He stepped closer to you, attempting to close the space between you. “When I am not in this form I’m assuming?” He smiled at you. Now, you were worth his time.

“Yes, you have,” you confirmed. 

“Whatever I have done to you, forgive me,” Loki began. “I have never known pure beauty until I saw you. I have seen different galaxies and skies above me, but why look above me when I can look upon something I am not worthy of?” 

You had heard of Loki’s flirtations with other women in the Avengers Tower, but it was never something like this. Loki took your hand once more.

“Please allow me to dance with you,” he asked your permission. You held his hand, but you felt like you were moving closer to the center of the ball room. Both of you moved past other couples and groups at the party. Loki situated the both of you in front of the band. The music began to play. Loki placed one hand on the small of your back, and the other held your hand. 

He was gentle, but a firm leader. Both of you glided across the room and in between other couples. Loki’s eyes never wavered from yours. You didn’t know how this happened. One minute, you were at the bottom of the stairs with the man who had challenged you and your existence. The next minute, he had you in his embrace dancing across the church floor.

A more modern song came on, and he escorted you outside. A breeze continuously ran through the church grounds which gave you and Loki the chance to cool down after the constant moving. Outside was lit by street lamps and string lights that your team had hung.

“I keep underestimating you mortals,” Loki admitted. “I had assumed this party would’ve been just as awful if not more so than my mother’s.”

“Your mother had a masquerade?” you asked him, keeping up the façade.

“Yes, she had wanted to recreate what the Midgardians did, and nobody was comfortable in their costumes. The food was awful. Worst of all, Thor had his first kiss that night on accident.”

“Accident?” you asked. Loki chuckled. 

“Oh yes. He had his eye on one particular girl for a while. Thinking he was a smart boy, he snuck up to her, and presented her with flowers. Only it wasn’t her. It was her cousin. She kissed Thor right on the mouth and told everyone that Thor favored her more than her cousin.” You started to laugh along with Loki. Once the laughing stopped, you caught Loki staring at you.

“Is there something wrong?” you covered your mouth hoping he didn’t recognize your laugh. 

“No, no,” Loki bit his lip and looked to the sky for a moment. “I know this is a masquerade, and I’m not supposed to know who you are, but I want to know. I want to know who you are, and I would very much like to kiss you.” Loki reached for your mask, but you stopped him.

“What if you don’t like the girl under the mask?” Loki shook his head.

“Impossible. I didn’t spend two hours dancing with you to hate you now, pet,” Loki responded. Loki reached for your mask again. He untied the ribbons and gently took off the mask from your face as if the moment could fall part at any moment. You quickly looked down, not wanting to see Loki cringe at the realization of who you were.

You heard him chuckling. You looked back up to see the mischievous god laughing and smiling. 

“It’s you. Y/N,” I should have known better,” he grabbed your hands.

“You’re not disappointed?” you raised an eyebrow.

“Why should I be?” Loki closed the space between you. “The beauty I sought out has a mind that bested mine. I see no down side to this.”

“You were angry with me. You looked like you hated me.”

“I did, but then I saw you. And then words ran dry in my mouth. I felt such a pull to you. Surely, you felt it too. And then when the music—

Your lips met his. You needed no more words. Loki’s hands touched the sides of your face as he deepened the kiss. Your hands grabbed at his chest. His tongue traced the bottom of your lip, and you let him enter. You felt hungrier for more. Your tongue dominated as you lost more air. The release of the tension between you two felt so sweet.

Loki let go of you first. Your noses touched, but both of you breathed for a moment. You let yourself smell him and take in anything he could offer you. 

“There’s no going back now, is there?” Loki said quietly to you. You kissed him again, letting the moment pass and slowly letting him go.

“No, there isn’t,” you told him.

\--- Weeks Later ---

Snow fell on the windows of the Stark Tower. You sat at a window looking out onto the rest of New York. The snowfall touched the rooftops of apartments and skyscrapers. You felt arms wrap around you, and you smelled mint.

“Hey you,” you greeted your boyfriend, Loki. He offered you a cup of hot chocolate.

“Hello darling,” he greeted and kissed the crown of your head. Both of you sat together and enjoyed the cold weather.

“You know,” a voice said, entering the room. “Weeks ago, the both of you were at each other’s throats.” Loki and you turned to see Thor smiling.

“And now?” Loki asked.

“And now, you’re cuddled together by the window, drinking hot coco in your pajamas,” Thor chuckled. 

“Your point?” Loki held onto you a little tighter. 

“I’m just happy to see my brother happy with someone, that’s all,” Thor held up his hands for surrender. 

“How did this happen anyways?” Tony asked, entering the room next. He crossed his arms and waited for an answer. You looked to Loki, wondering if he would tell anyone about that night at masquerade. 

Loki narrowed his eyes at Tony, and smiled in a mischievous manner. “Sometimes the music of the night unfurls its splendor turning enemies into lovers.” Loki kissed the crown on your head again, satisfied with his answer.

“What the hell? Why do you gods speak like Shakespeare wrote your lines?” Tony yelled. Thor laughed at Tony’s response. You leaned into Loki more, letting your body melt into his. He was right. Masquerades can fool anyone, including gods.

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to read more of my work, you can always hit up my tumblr ( https://crowkingwrites.tumblr.com/ ) Happy Halloween!


End file.
